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W. H. BEVANS.

ELEVATINTGGEAR ATTACHMENT. 4 No. 590,817. Patented Sept. 28,1897.

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W. H, BEVANS.. ELEVATING GEAR ATTAGHMENT.

WITNESSES:

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UNITED STATES PATENT Trice.

WILLIAM II. BEVANS, OF \VASHINGTON, DISTRICT O F COLUMBIA.

ELEVATING-G EAR ATTACHMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 590,817, dated September 28, 1897. Application filed August 3, 1896. Renewed August 21, 1897. $erial No. 649,074:- (No model.)

To all whom. it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. BEVANS, a citizen of the United States, residing at IVashingtomin the District of Columbia,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Operating Ordnance, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to elevating mechanism for guns, and my improvement is directed to certain parts and combinations of parts whereby a direct holding connection of elevating-gear with the gun and on which it is free to slide longitudinally is made between the main or fixed part of the gun-carriage and the breech of the gun, so that in whatever position the elevating-gear may be the gun may recoil within the carriage without thereby effecting either the angle of elevation or the given aimed position of the elevatinggear.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated my invention in the form which is at present preferred by me, but it will be understood that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention and without exceeding the scope of the concluding claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents so much of a gun and its .carriage as illustrates the embodiment therein of my improvement and Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the same, taken in the axial plane of the elevating-gear and looking toward the front.

My invention is applicable to any form of carriage and elevating-gear wherein the latter is made to have a direct connection between the carriage proper and a gun having a recoil within such carriage, and it will be understood that such recoil is controlled by any of the common forms of hydraulic cylinder or spring attachments.

1 indicates the gun; 2, the recoil-slide trunnions; 3, the sides or checks of the trail, and at the hydraulic subrecoil-cylinder.

The elevating-gear, which is of the wellknown male and female screw system, is mounted between the sides or checks of the trail upon a crosssupport bolted to the trail sides, so that the gear system is adapted to be turned upon the bearings 5 5 in the operation of aiming the gun, while the screw stem is adapted for vertical adjustment in such operation.

The bearings are mounted in fixed journals 6 6 on the cr0ss-support 7 and form the pivotal connection of the female screw with the carriage, while the male screw 8 at its upper end has a pivotal connection with the gun. This connection in the form in which I have at present devised it consists of a guideway preferably formed of slotted brackets 9 9, bolted to the under side of the gun at the breech and in the length thereof, so that they form between them an unobstructed space within which the head of the male screw extends and is attached, leaving the gun free to slide. A pin 10 passes through the slots 11 in the brackets and through the head of the screw-stem and connects the latter to the gun, whereby the gear is secured directly to the gun-in a way to allow of its recoil and prevents its vertical movement.

In order to guide and to maintain the upper end of this elevatinggear properly in the operation of elevating and firing the gun, I make use of two bars or connecting-rods 12 12, the forward ends of which are secured to the trail-cheeks by pivot-forming bolts 13 13, whereby said rods have fixed positions with regard to the bearings of the elevating-gear, while the rear ends of the said rods are connected to the head of the male screw by the pin which connects it to the gun. These bars or rods are pivotally secured upon the ends of the said pin outside of the guide-brackets by means of nuts. In this manner in whatever position the elevating-gear may be the gun will be free to move back and forth over the head of the male screw and at the same time the gun will be prevented from moving either laterally or vertically with respect to the elevating-gear. This construction serves to properly guide the elevating-screw in the operation of elevating and to maintain it in a fixed position during the recoil of the gun within the carriage, and it is important to note that such elevating and guiding mechanism works directly between the moving gun and the fixed carriage.

Referring to Fig. 1, the gun is shown in its normal position in relation to the elevatinggear and in dotted lines in its position of re coil from the firing, but the position of the elevating-gear is not changed by such recoil or by the movement of the gun in assuming its normal position from the recoil. Therefore when once adjusted for firing the gun is maintained in that position so long as such aim is found effective. I

In the construction shown the direct connection of the elevating-gear with the gun, the fixed connection of the elevating-gear with the carriage, and the pivotal connection of the elevating-gear with the carriage form a triangle in which the direct connection is made with the gun at the angle and with respect to which the gun is movable both for adjustment and for recoil, and that the connecting bars or rods are substantially at right angles to the axis of the elevating member of the gear andtherefore substantially in the line of the movement of the gun. The bars flare outward from the gun to the carriage and are made thereby to form lateral braces to the gun.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination with a gun and its carriage, of elevating-gear having direct connection with a part fixed to and moving with the gun and means connecting the gear, at its connection with the gun, with the gun-carriage, so that in what-ever position the elevatinggear may be, the gun will be free to recoil within the carriage without thereby affecting either its angle of elevation or the initial position of the elevating-gear.

2. The combination, with a gun-carriage and a gun adapted to recoil within the latter, of an elevating-gear, connected directly to the trail-cheeks of the carriage back of the guntrunnions and to a slotted part fixed to the body of the gun at its breech, for operation in the Way described.

3. In operating guns and in combination with a gun-carriage and a gun adapted to recoil within the carriage, an elevating-gear having a direct pivotal connection with a slotted fixed projection of the gun and in advance of such connection a fixed pivotal connection with the carriage.

4. In operating guns and in combination with an elevating-gear the adjusting member whereof has a fixed connection with the body of the carriage and a direct connection with the gun, a guideway for such direct con,- nection fixed to the gun whereby the latter is free to move back and forth over and upon the said elevating-gear, in the way described.

5. In operating guns, and in combination with the gun and its carriage or mounting and an elevating-gear a fixed connection between the elevating-gear thereof and the body of the carriage and a direct connection with the gun, a guideway for such direct connection consisting of slotted brackets fixed to the gun and a pivoting-bolt passing through said slots and connecting the elevating-gear with the said carriage connections and with the gun.

6. In operating guns and in combination with an elevating-gear, brackets fixed to the gun in the length-thereof and having horizontal slots, a pivoting-bolt passing through said slots and an eye in the head of the adjusting member of said gear, and a bar or rod on each side of thegun connecting said pivoting-bolt and having fixed pivoting connection with the carriage between the recoilslide trunnions and the said brackets for operation in the way described.

7. In combination with a gun and its carriage or mounting and elevating-gear pivotally mounted in the carriage, a device for directly connecting the said gearwith the gun and with the carriage consisting of a slotted guideway on the gun, a pivotal connection for said guidewayand gear, and bars or rods connecting said guideway pivotal connection with the carriage arranged approximately at right angles to the axis of the elevating member of the gear.

8. In operatingguns, the combination with the gun and the main body of the carriage, of elevating-gear and a guideway connecting the gear with the gun, and consisting of a slotted'projection secured longitudinally to the breech of the gun, and bars or rods arranged to connect the gear to the guideway and to the body of the carriage in advance of the guideway.

9. In gun mechanism and in combination with the gun and a carriage or mounting therefor, an adj Listing-gear for vertical sighting of the gun havinga sliding connection with a part fixed to and moving with the gun, said connection holding the gun from vertical movement in firing while allowing it to slide freely longitudinally and means for pivotally connecting the said gear at its holding connection with the gun and to the cheeks of the trail, whereby the gun is free to slide directly upon its gear connection without changing its initial position.

10. In operating ordnance, a gun having a fixed external breech attachment, and a carriage, in combination with elevating gear having a sliding connection with the said attachment of the gun and separate side parts connecting said gear and gun connection with the carriage, the said gun and gear connection being adapted to hold the gun from vertical movement and to allow the said fixed breech attachment to slide upon the gear.

WILLIAM H. BEVANS.

Witnesses:

OHAs. L. GULIoK, A. Y. LEECH, Jr.

IIC. 

